The Canada Revenue Agency is laying off up to 280 permanent employees, a decision it says is driven by “fiscal responsibility.”
The workforce changes will affect mostly “internal services,” with most of the cuts occurring in the national capital region, according to Etienne Biram, a CRA spokesperson.
“The financial challenges facing the CRA have been driven by the end of temporary program funding, government-wide savings initiatives, and a shift in operational pressures,” said Biram.
The CRA will also implement voluntary departure programs and, where necessary, initiate retention measures, Biram added.
Commissioner Bob Hamilton and Deputy Commissioner Jean-François Fortin said in a message to staff on Thursday that the agency has taken a number of steps in response to required government savings after reviewing its operating budget since early 2023.
This “deeply concerning news” follows several rounds of significant job losses totalling more than 3,000 positions since the fall of 2024, according to the Union of Taxation Employees, which represents over 35,000 CRA workers.
“Our union strongly opposes these potential job losses, as well as all recent layoffs that have impacted thousands of our members,” said Marc Brière, the national president of the Union of Taxation Employees, in a press release on Friday.
“Ultimately, it is Canadian taxpayers and businesses who will see their public services further deteriorate — more delays, more frustration, and fewer services,” Brière added.
The union said the CRA informed about 700 permanent employees — including the 280 facing layoffs — on Thursday that their jobs will be affected by a “workforce adjustment process.”
In November 2024, the CRA said it was restricting certain hiring activities, freezing “noncritical overtime,” and not renewing the contracts of 600 temporary employees.
According to the union, the federal agency also cut 450 employees who handled taxpayer objections and relief requests for those in difficult situations during this year’s tax filing season. Earlier this month, the CRA informed about 1,300 term workers across the country that their contracts would not be renewed.
Hamilton and Fortin said in the message to employees that several factors have affected the agency’s budget in recent years, including the end of the COVID-19 program funding, government spending reductions, and an increased ratio of permanent to temporary staff.
This round of “workforce adjustments” will affect 11 branches inside the CRA, including the complete phaseout of the Digital Transformation Program Branch, with its responsibilities being transferred to other branches.
The Union of Taxation Employees called the agency’s budgetary approach “short-sighted,” saying it will weaken the CRA’s operational capacity and “severely undermine the quality of services provided to taxpayers and businesses across the country.”
The union is demanding accountability and an immediate halt to CRA job losses, appealing directly to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, and CRA Secretary Wayne Long.
With files from The Canadian Press
